PWInsider - WWE News, Wrestling News, WWE

PWINSIDER Q & A: RAMON AS CHAMP, BLOWING CM PUNK, GIANT AT MANIA, FUNK, MALENKO AND MORE

Hi there, first of all, thank you for a wonderful site. I would like to ask, do you think that if Razor Ramon had not signed with WCW in 1996, would the WWF have eventually made him WWF Champion? It was great to see him hold the Intercontinental Title four times, but in his prime, I would have liked to have seen him holding the WWF Championship. I think he had that special "something" that would have made him an interesting and unique WWF Champion. Any thoughts you have on this would be appreciated.

I can't say for sure either way.  At that point, WWE was languishing so maybe he would have gotten a shot with the belt since they really didn't have anyone else at that point to try on top.  He was one of the top guys there at the time and we all saw what happened to the business when he and Kevin Nash jumped to WCW so whether he got the top strap or not, he certainly had an impact on the business. 

I find it hard to believe that The Big Show could not wrestle just one more match at Wrestlemania, given that Hulk Hogan is his good friend and it would be a huge paycheck for him. Is Big Show really injured to the point that he couldn’t last through just one more match? It’s not like it would be a high impact, hardcore match. All he would have to do is take one bodyslam and it would be over.

Show is said to be hurting  a lot and not in any hurry to get back to WWE.  I understand your line of thinking, and it certainly has merit, especially from an outsider's perspective.  The flip side is, wrestling is a painful business for normal-sized men, let alone 7 foot, 500 pound beasts like Show.  Plus, he has made a LOT of money over the years so he is not motivated to work when he is hurting.  So, I could see why Show wouldn't want to come back at this time.  Plus, last I heard, WWE had decided to move Great Khali into the Big Show spot so it may not even be a matter of Show not wanting to return at this point.

I think as far as CM Punk is concerned, management is spiting themselves. For Punk to job to Holly, then put him in a program with Matt Striker, is a joke. If you were booking ECW wouldn't you book Punk exactly like they booked Cena ? Do you agree that people get behind Punk, the same way they got behind Benoit, Bret, Eddie because they can identify with them?

I would book Punk the way that Paul Heyman was booking him before he was removed from power.  Why?  Because it was working and Punk was getting over with the fans.  I don't know that people identify with him as much as he's a good worker and he is something different.  After being fed a steady diet of big Chris Masters types, Punk was a welcome and refreshing change.  He is also the only new star that they have created with the ECW brand.  That says it all to me.  Too bad it doesn't say it all to WWE.

It's been over a year since Terry Funk went into the "Hardcore Hall Of Fame" at the last Hardcore Homecoming event. Was this just a one time thing or are there plans to induct others since lets face it, I don't see any ECW icons going into the WWE Hall Of Fame except for Funk & maybe Paul Heyman. 

In order to have more people inducted into the Hardcore Hall of Fame, you would need to have more Hardcore Homecoming events.  I haven't heard of any plans for them to run again and given how badly WWE has destroyed ECW since they brought it back, alienating the old ECW fans in the process, I think that the bloom is the rose anyway.  So, it's probably a situation where the Hall will have one member but oh, what a member it is!

Why did Dean Malenko retire? I remember him as a great technician in the ring and a great Cruiserweight and World Tag Team Champion. So Why did he retire in what I thought was in his prime?

Actually, Malenko was in his forties already at the time that he retired so he really wasn't in his prime.  Plus, by that point he had been relegated to mid-card status.  He had the opportunity to become an agent for WWE and my hunch is he realized that he had accomplished all that he was going to accomplish in the ring and decided to move on to the next phase of his life.

You can send us questions for the PWInsider.com Q&A by clicking here.

We also have a new Q and A up today on PWInsiderXtra.com titled:

PWINSIDERXTRA Q & A: FINLAY SLAPPING JOSH MATTHEWS, BAD FLAIR BOOKING IN WCW, AHMED JOHNSON, WELLNESS AND MORE

If you are an Elite member of the new site, you can read it by clicking here.

If you are not an Elite member, you can read it by clicking here.

If you are an PWInsider.com Elite member and you want to find out how to join the new site (which is bargain priced at a dollar a month or less, depending on the subscription you choose), click here.

If you would like to become an Elite member to one or both of the sites, you can do so by clicking here.

For PWInsider.com Elite members who are not members of PWInsiderXtra.com, the questions from PWInsiderXtra.com will be archived in our weekly Elite newsletter.

  

If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section, which features exclusive audio updates, news, our critically acclaimed podcasts, interviews and more by clicking here!

• Tweet